Lore of Death
Overall: - ✪✪✪✪✩
Lore of Death is best used on Master Necromancers and Necromancers. It is occasionally used on a Vampire hero in order to get snipping spells in to close range. This lore has a mix of very powerful and weaker spells. About half of the spells are situational and one is essentially useless. The remaining spells are solid, with two valuable hexes, the most powerful vortex in the game and a key sniping spell.
Lore Attribute: Life Leeching - ✪✪✪✪✩
Unfortunately Lore of Death’s best spells are hexes, so this attribute won't trigger often. Nor is it as reliable as Curse of Undeath or as tricky as Smoke and Mirrors. But when Purple Sun is successfully cast, you will absolutely love how Life Leeching effectively restarts your magic phase. Don’t plan around needing Life Leeching, but exploit it when you get Purple Sun.
= Spells =
Soulblight - ✪✪✪✪✪
Soulblight is a hex that reduces the two most important stats in the game, Strength and Toughness. This makes even your Zombies and Skeletons fearsome opponents or can be used as a deterrent to keep enemy units out of combat. Boosted, Soulblight affects all enemy units within range making it helpful when you’re outmaneuvered and need to regain a tactical advantage. Overall it is a great spell for any style of play, whether your army is defensive or aggressive.
Doom and Darkness - ✪✪✪✪✪
If ever there was a spell with synergy to the Vampire Counts it is Doom and Darkness. This hex makes our Fear, Terror and screams much more deadly. With a -3 to Leadership, enemy units will fail march tests, Steadfast units will break and Fear (and Terror) will actually have an effect! This spell is essential to any screamer army and useful to all others. Even if you’re not focused on Death magic, this spell might be worth running a couple of Necromancers in hopes of getting it.
The Purple Sun of Xereus - ✪✪✪✪✪
The dreaded Purple Sun of Xereus! A spell that makes armies tremble at its mere mention and with good reason too! This vortex causes any model it passes over to make an Initiative check or die with no save of any kind allowed. Infamous for being six-diced (usually to get the larger template cast with Irresistible Force), Purple Sun absolutely devours regiments. However, it works even better with the small template since that one is more accurate. But if that wasn’t painful enough, Life Leeching can turn those Wounds into even more power dice, completely rebooting your Magic phase. As a vortex, Purple Sun remains in play, blocking movement and causing total chaos! Cast it through your opponent’s flank and you will decimate his battleline. Be warned though, if your Wizard has this spell, a fairly large target is on his head. So protect him and use it well. Also, the damage output of this spell is greatly reduced if you end up facing Elves or other armies fielding many high Initiative units.
Spirit Leech (Signature Spell) - ✪✪✪✪✩
Spirit Leech is the most reliable of the sniping spells, often worth fielding a Necromancer just for him to take it. Spirit Leech has a low casting value, decent range when boosted and can single out characters in units! When you kill your enemy’s general, their level 4 Wizard or their Battle Standard Bearer with this one spell it is game changing! Spirit Leech synergizes well with Doom & Darkness and Aura of Dark Majesty. When casting, make sure your Wizard is within range of your Vampire Lord’s Inspiring Presence and that the target suffers from both debuff effects to get the most from this spell.
The Caress of Laniph - ✪✪✪✩✩
TheCaress of Laniph is the weakest of the sniping spells. It is a bit random and can fail it’s To-Wound rolls even if cast successfully. It works best when combined with Soulblight and used on armored, multiple Wound targets with low Strength and high Toughness or enemy Wizards, since most Wizards lack high Strength. The Caress of Laniph is easy to cast and has a good range when boosted, so it has great value in defensive armies.
The Fate of Bjuna - ✪✪✪✩✩
A decent sniping spell. Its short range makes it difficult to use without getting engaged in combat. Where it is strong is it Wounds on a 2+. The Fate of Bjuna is a nice back up to the other two sniping spells, but it’s not as reliable as Spirit Leech (if you also have Doom & Darkness) or as good at sniping Wizards as The Caress of Laniph.
Aspect of the Dreadknight - ✪✩✩✩✩
There is really no reason for a Vampire Counts army to take this spell. It’s essentially wasted and should be swapped out with Spirit Leech. Even if you want a unit to cause Terror, psychology effects like Terror (and Fear) aren’t reliable enough to justify it. Just use a Banshee or Wraith instead.
Lore of Death is best used on Master Necromancers and Necromancers. It is occasionally used on a Vampire hero in order to get snipping spells in to close range. This lore has a mix of very powerful and weaker spells. About half of the spells are situational and one is essentially useless. The remaining spells are solid, with two valuable hexes, the most powerful vortex in the game and a key sniping spell.
Lore Attribute: Life Leeching - ✪✪✪✪✩
Unfortunately Lore of Death’s best spells are hexes, so this attribute won't trigger often. Nor is it as reliable as Curse of Undeath or as tricky as Smoke and Mirrors. But when Purple Sun is successfully cast, you will absolutely love how Life Leeching effectively restarts your magic phase. Don’t plan around needing Life Leeching, but exploit it when you get Purple Sun.
= Spells =
Soulblight - ✪✪✪✪✪
Soulblight is a hex that reduces the two most important stats in the game, Strength and Toughness. This makes even your Zombies and Skeletons fearsome opponents or can be used as a deterrent to keep enemy units out of combat. Boosted, Soulblight affects all enemy units within range making it helpful when you’re outmaneuvered and need to regain a tactical advantage. Overall it is a great spell for any style of play, whether your army is defensive or aggressive.
Doom and Darkness - ✪✪✪✪✪
If ever there was a spell with synergy to the Vampire Counts it is Doom and Darkness. This hex makes our Fear, Terror and screams much more deadly. With a -3 to Leadership, enemy units will fail march tests, Steadfast units will break and Fear (and Terror) will actually have an effect! This spell is essential to any screamer army and useful to all others. Even if you’re not focused on Death magic, this spell might be worth running a couple of Necromancers in hopes of getting it.
The Purple Sun of Xereus - ✪✪✪✪✪
The dreaded Purple Sun of Xereus! A spell that makes armies tremble at its mere mention and with good reason too! This vortex causes any model it passes over to make an Initiative check or die with no save of any kind allowed. Infamous for being six-diced (usually to get the larger template cast with Irresistible Force), Purple Sun absolutely devours regiments. However, it works even better with the small template since that one is more accurate. But if that wasn’t painful enough, Life Leeching can turn those Wounds into even more power dice, completely rebooting your Magic phase. As a vortex, Purple Sun remains in play, blocking movement and causing total chaos! Cast it through your opponent’s flank and you will decimate his battleline. Be warned though, if your Wizard has this spell, a fairly large target is on his head. So protect him and use it well. Also, the damage output of this spell is greatly reduced if you end up facing Elves or other armies fielding many high Initiative units.
Spirit Leech (Signature Spell) - ✪✪✪✪✩
Spirit Leech is the most reliable of the sniping spells, often worth fielding a Necromancer just for him to take it. Spirit Leech has a low casting value, decent range when boosted and can single out characters in units! When you kill your enemy’s general, their level 4 Wizard or their Battle Standard Bearer with this one spell it is game changing! Spirit Leech synergizes well with Doom & Darkness and Aura of Dark Majesty. When casting, make sure your Wizard is within range of your Vampire Lord’s Inspiring Presence and that the target suffers from both debuff effects to get the most from this spell.
The Caress of Laniph - ✪✪✪✩✩
TheCaress of Laniph is the weakest of the sniping spells. It is a bit random and can fail it’s To-Wound rolls even if cast successfully. It works best when combined with Soulblight and used on armored, multiple Wound targets with low Strength and high Toughness or enemy Wizards, since most Wizards lack high Strength. The Caress of Laniph is easy to cast and has a good range when boosted, so it has great value in defensive armies.
The Fate of Bjuna - ✪✪✪✩✩
A decent sniping spell. Its short range makes it difficult to use without getting engaged in combat. Where it is strong is it Wounds on a 2+. The Fate of Bjuna is a nice back up to the other two sniping spells, but it’s not as reliable as Spirit Leech (if you also have Doom & Darkness) or as good at sniping Wizards as The Caress of Laniph.
Aspect of the Dreadknight - ✪✩✩✩✩
There is really no reason for a Vampire Counts army to take this spell. It’s essentially wasted and should be swapped out with Spirit Leech. Even if you want a unit to cause Terror, psychology effects like Terror (and Fear) aren’t reliable enough to justify it. Just use a Banshee or Wraith instead.
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